Rotary lawn mowers are generally known in the art. Typically, such mowers include a wheeled housing forming a cutting chamber in which a rigid cutting blade rotates. A generally U-shaped handle assembly extending upwardly and rearwardly from the housing allows a walking operator to guide and manipulate the mower. The handle assembly may include two transversely spaced handle members, e.g., tubes, joined together at their respective upper ends by a cross tube forming a hand grip portion of the handle assembly. The handle assembly may be rigidly locked to the housing during operation of the mower so that the user may impart directional and control forces to the mower through the handle assembly.
While effectively configured for operation, the handle assembly, when in this conventional operating position, may extend substantially rearwardly beyond the mower housing. Thus, the mower may take up what is considered to be excessive room when not in use, i.e., when the mower is stored with the handle assembly in its conventional operating position, the mower may have a relatively large storage footprint.
To remedy this situation, mowers in which the handle assembly folds relative to the housing have been developed. Such a foldable handle assembly is usually pivotally connected, at its lower end, to the mower housing and is often formed in two sections—a lower section and an upper section—which may also be pivotally connected to one another. Locking mechanisms are provided for securing the handle assembly in its conventional operating position. However, when the locking mechanisms are released, the handle assembly may be pivoted relative to the housing until the lower section of the handle assembly extends generally vertically over the housing. In some mower configurations, the upper section of the handle assembly may also be folded back over the lower section to further reduce storage volume.
While effective, some implementations of foldable handle assemblies do have drawbacks such as, for instance, requiring time consuming and/or complex manual interaction on the part of the operator to initiate folding. To illustrate, when it comes time to move some of these folding handle assemblies out of their conventional operating position, the user typically must unlock both handle tubes from the housing to allow the handle assembly to be pivoted to its stored position. Since the locking mechanism is usually at the base of the handle assembly (near where the lower ends of the handle tubes connect to the housing) manipulation of the locking mechanisms on both sides of the mower housing may involve bending down, or even getting on one's knees. Such interaction may be inconvenient, or for some operators, difficult to accomplish.
To alleviate this problem, some mowers have utilized alternative locking mechanisms. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 5,435,119 to Leibengood. The '119 patent describes a hand-actuated device that applies a load between both lower ends of the mower handle in an effort to displace the ends and thus unlatch them from the mower frame. While effective, Leibengood applies the load directly between the members of the handle assembly. As a result, one member may potentially be displaced more than the other, resulting in only partial disengagement of the handle assembly (e.g., only one handle end) from the mower housing.